Taxes should first fund public safety

Well now, here the City Council is at it again. Measure O this November, if passed, will extend the current city's increased sales tax. Again the citizen's representatives foster a strong belief that our taxes should first fund everything else and then fund public safety (police and fire) and road maintenance last.

Since I started paying taxes years ago, I was under the impression that my taxes would first fund police and fire services. This seemed like a prudent course of action; who would not want to protect the taxpayer? Evidently our newspaper, council and my representative (Linda Atkins) believe these services should be funded last and if not enough funding is available then let's tax the people some more. The council representatives know very well that they can generate more revenue when they use scare tactics to not fully fund public safety. Unfortunately they are correct as the majority of the voting public believes this nonsense and will vote for more taxes. When are the citizens going to hold our government accountable to balance a budget without resorting to raising special taxes?

I would truly like to know when a citizen who is voted in as a representative begins to change. They will eventually turn to exploring creative ways (e.g., scare tactics) to generate new revenue streams. I'm sure the majority of taxpayers would rather see their taxes fund public safety first and not last.